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'Exercise pill' could replace trips to the gym

"Exercise pill" could replace trips to the gym and help fight diseases including cancer, muscle dystrophy and AIDS

An "exercise pill" that could reduce the need for visits to the gym is a step closer, say scientists.

科学家称,他们离制造出"运动药丸"从而减少人们前往健身房次数的目标更进一步.

A study found that suppressing production of the protein myostatin increased muscle mass.

一项研究发现,阻止肌肉生长抑制蛋白的生成可以提升肌肉质量.

Although the research was conducted in mice, the team hopes it will lead to human treatments.

尽管这一实验还停留在试验?资蟮慕锥? 科研团队希望后续能够用于人类治疗.

Lead researcher Dr Joshua Butcher, from Augusta University in Georgia, US, said: "Ultimately, the goal of our research would be to create a pill that mimics the effect of exercise and protects against obesity.

"A pill that inhibits myostatin could also have applications for muscle-wasting diseases, such as cancer, muscle dystrophy and AIDS, Myostatin is known to be a powerful "brake" that holds back skeletal muscle growth."

Studies suggest that obese people produce more of the protein, making it harder for them to exercise and build up muscle.

研究表明,肥胖的人会产生更多肌肉生长抑制素这种蛋白质,这让他们更难进行运动和增肌.

"Given that exercise is one of the most effective interventions for obesity, this creates a cycle by which a person becomes trapped in obesity," said Dr Butcher.

布彻博士说："而运动又是防止肥胖的最有效方式之一,这就导致肥胖的人陷入恶性循环."

The researchers bred four groups of lean and obese mice that were genetically programmed either to produce uninhibited levels of myostatin or to be completely lacking in the protein.

研究人员饲养了四组瘦弱和肥胖的白鼠, 其基因设定分别为无限制释放肌肉抑制素和完全不释放肌肉抑制素.

As expected, mice with no myostatin became markedly more muscular.

Obese mice unable to produce myostatin remained fat, but they were also stronger and showed markers of heart and metabolic health on a par with their lean counterparts.

They were in dramatically better shape than obese mice with unrestricted myostatin production.

Dr Butcher added: "In our muscular obese mouse, despite full presentation of obesity, it appears that several of these key pathologies are prevented.

布彻博士补充道：这些肌肉发达却肥胖的?资?尽管依然表现出肥胖的症状,但一些关键的病理症状没有发生.

"While much more research is needed, at this point myostatin appears to be a very promising pathway for protection against obesity-derived cardiometabolic dysfunction."

虽然还需进行大量研究,但目前看来,肌肉抑制素似乎对于治疗由肥胖导致的心血管功能异常很有帮助.

The research was presented at the American Physiological Society's annual meeting, Experimental Biology 2017, in Chicago, US.